lemon.markets

What lemon.markets does

lemon.markets is a Berlin-based FinTech founded in 2020 that operates a Brokerage-as-a-Service API platform enabling businesses to embed investment and trading functionality into their own products. The company serves three primary B2B customer segments — brokers and wealth managers, banks and electronic money institutions (EMIs), and software companies — with named commercial partners including Holvi, Vivid, and Optio Incentives. Under a horizontal go-to-market, it targets any European organization that wants to offer stocks, ETFs, and funds without building the underlying infrastructure in-house.

The platform covers the full investment value chain through modular APIs: account opening and KYC/PEP/sanction screening, account funding and withdrawal, order management and execution (3,000+ stocks and 1,000+ ETFs), custody and asset servicing (including corporate actions), tax calculation and reporting, and a self-service customer portal. A BaFin-licensed subsidiary (lemon.markets brokerage GmbH, regulated under the German Investment Firms Act / WpIG) provides regulatory coverage that partners can either rely on or pair with their own licenses. The platform is offered in two operating models — bundled (lemon.markets provides securities and cash accounts end-to-end) and unbundled (partners bring their own cash accounts) — and integrates with established financial institutions including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Tradegate Exchange, and allfunds for settlement, custody, and fund distribution.

The revenue model is B2B enterprise SaaS-style, with quote-based pricing per partnership and no publicly disclosed tiers. lemon.markets monetizes via API licensing and managed infrastructure services, including custody and asset servicing as recurring managed-services revenue. The company raised approximately €28 million in total across a €15M seed round (April 2022, Lakestar and Lightspeed co-led) and a €12M round (July 2024, CommerzVentures led). In August 2025, lemon.markets was acquired by dwpbank (Deutsche WertpapierService Bank AG) and now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary within the dwpbank group, with stated intent to scale pan-European digital brokerage infrastructure and pursue a stated ambition of enabling 100 million brokerage accounts across Europe.

Name

lemon.markets

Legal name

lemon.markets GmbH

Website

https://lemon.markets

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

lemon.markets is a Berlin-based FinTech providing a BaFin-licensed Brokerage-as-a-Service API that enables brokers, banks, neobanks, and software companies across Europe to embed stocks, ETFs, and funds trading with full custody, KYC, and tax infrastructure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. API Infrastructure Services: lemon.markets provides brokerage-as-a-service infrastructure to B2B partners (brokers, banks, software companies). Revenue is generated through API licensing and service fees for the infrastructure that enables investment products. The platform handles the technical, operational, and regulatory complexities for partners.
2. Custody and Asset Servicing: Custody services for safekeeping and administration of customer securities accounts, including handling corporate actions. This is part of the bundled infrastructure offering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

lemon.markets provides a Brokerage-as-a-Service API platform that enables companies such as brokers, wealth managers, banks, EMIs and software companies to launch investment products with regulatory coverage through a BaFin licence. The platform covers the full investment value chain including digital onboarding with KYC, account funding, order management and execution for ETFs, Funds and Stocks, custody and asset servicing, automated tax and reporting, and a self-service customer portal.

Product overview

lemon.markets is a Berlin-based FinTech company offering a modular Brokerage-as-a-Service platform. The core offering is the lemon.markets API infrastructure enabling companies to launch investment products. The platform operates in two models: Bundled (lemon.markets provides end-to-end services including securities and cash accounts) and Unbundled (partners bring their own cash accounts). The product portfolio includes Account Opening & Management, Order Management & Execution, Custody & Asset Servicing, Taxes/Reporting & Receipts, and Self-Service Customer Portal modules. lemon.markets supports three use cases: Vertical Brokerage (investing as core product), Embedded Brokerage (investing as feature), and Contextual Brokerage (investing in new contexts). The platform offers access to Stocks, ETFs, and Funds with market hours from 8am to 10pm. The company was acquired by dwpbank in August 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• lemon.markets Brokerage-as-a-Service Platform API-first Brokerage-as-a-Service infrastructure for B2B partners (brokers, wealth managers, banks, EMIs and software companies) to launch and operate investment products, with regulatory coverage via a BaFin licence under WpIG.

Quantifiable outcome

• Build time reduced from months to weeks using developer-friendly API and sandbox environment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VividcoreTechnology or Integration · 29 October 2025Vivid and lemon.markets partnered to launch a pan-European multi-asset offering. The partnership enables Vivid's customers across Europe to access multi-asset investing capabilities powered by lemon.markets' brokerage infrastructure.
• dwpbankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 August 2025dwpbank acquired lemon.markets in August 2025. This represents a major strategic partnership where lemon.markets becomes part of the dwpbank group, combining lemon.markets' digital brokerage API expertise with dwpbank's established banking infrastructure to expand digital brokerage services across Europe.
• HolvicoreTechnology or Integration · 3 October 2024Holvi partnered with lemon.markets to launch business accounts with depot/investment features for SMEs in Germany. Holvi, a business banking platform, uses lemon.markets infrastructure to enable its customers to invest in stocks and ETFs directly from their business accounts.
• BNP ParibascoreTechnology or IntegrationBNP Paribas is listed as a cooperation partner, indicating a partnership for trusted financial infrastructure connections within the European market.
• Deutsche BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationDeutsche Bank is listed as a cooperation partner, representing a strategic relationship with a major global bank for infrastructure and market access.
• Tradegate ExchangecoreTechnology or IntegrationTradegate Exchange is listed as a cooperation partner. Orders are routed to Tradegate and other regulated exchanges for best execution.
• allfundscoreTechnology or Integrationallfunds is listed as a cooperation partner, providing access to fund distribution and servicing capabilities within the lemon.markets ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Upvest: Berlin-based investment API platform offering brokerage-as-a-service to banks, fintechs, and platforms. Upvest is the most direct European competitor to lemon.markets, serving a similar client base (neobanks, wealth managers) with a comparable API-first infrastructure.
• Alpaca: US-based brokerage API platform providing equities, options, and crypto trading infrastructure to developers and fintechs. Competes directly with lemon.markets in the embedded brokerage category, though focused on the US market.
• DriveWealth: US-based brokerage-as-a-service provider offering fractional share trading and custody infrastructure to global fintechs and banks. Direct peer in the BaaS category, with comparable B2B2X model and partner ecosystem.
• Solaris SE: Berlin-based Banking-as-a-Service platform providing banking infrastructure (accounts, payments, lending) to fintechs and corporates. Comparable B2B2X business model targeting European banks and fintechs, with similar API-first approach.

Broad incumbents

• Plaid: US-based financial data connectivity platform enabling apps to connect with bank accounts. While not a brokerage, Plaid represents a broader incumbent in the financial API infrastructure space and a potential adjacent competitor as it expands into investments.
• Interactive Brokers: Global incumbent broker-dealer with extensive API offering for institutional and retail clients. A scaled incumbent competitor with broader product range; competes with lemon.markets' underlying brokerage capability but as part of a much larger platform.
• Bitpanda: Vienna-based digital investment platform offering stocks, ETFs, crypto, and commodities. Bitpanda has a B2B offering (Bitpanda Technology Solutions) that overlaps with lemon.markets' embedded brokerage proposition.
• Saxo Bank: Danish incumbent broker with a strong API/open banking platform (Saxo OpenAPI) for B2B partners. Comparable to lemon.markets in offering white-label brokerage infrastructure to banks and fintechs, but as a much larger established player.

Regional players

• Trade Republic: Berlin-based neobroker offering commission-free stock and ETF trading. While not a B2B platform, Trade Republic represents a successful German broker that lemon.markets' partners compete against, shaping the addressable market dynamics.

Emerging players

• ClearBank: UK-based Banking-as-a-Service provider offering embedded banking infrastructure to fintechs and corporates. Comparable B2B2X business model with API-first delivery, though focused on banking rather than investment services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lemon_markets
• Facebookfacebook.com/lemon.markets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lemon-markets
• Instagraminstagram.com/lemon.markets

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about lemon.markets